Trading for a Living

How to make money trading stocks/Commodities

(d) The point at which you accept that the trade is not working even if the stop did not hit.

(e) Number of shares / contracts that you will hold. Keep in mind that your loss on a single trade should not be more than x% of your capital (you decide the x%)

(f) maintain a trading journal in which you write every evening, without fail.

As a sportsman(So too as a trader), you’ve got to realize that it’s not the end of the world if you lose one game or more..You should get down to basics and play every point on its merit. The moment you sit down to differentiate the first point from the last, emotions take over. Now, that needs to be detached. Focus is defined by the three “c”s, Courage, Composure and Consistency. When you need to prepare, there should be no distractions whatsoever. This is not a hobby, this is no child’s play, it is business. Even a cartwalla has commitment and consistency to make his few rupees. Market gives “huge” unlike any other business and instantly too(No collections/ recoveries here as in any other business) for the one who has a method, discipline to adhere to that winning strategy steadfastly.

Most traders/investors dissipate their energy & concentration on loose & boastful talk, when they should be relaxing after the markets, disconnecting from it for a while and then prepare for the next battle as in war…there is no time to sit back. You run..go on running. Do you see anyone stopping to take a breath in the football field once the game is on. To keep running like that, he must have undergone months of rigorous training. The difference here in our market is your training and trading is combined seamlessly.

There is another set of traders who would rather wallow in their losses rather than sitting up and looking hard at themselves and their behaviour, their decisions or lack of it that led them to serious mistakes in the market. Small mistakes are part of the game but serious ones cannot be allowed to become part of the play. You have to raise the level of your consciousness, sharpen your method and strategies in such a way, you are guided well during your trading.

Is it difficult to make money in the market. Nooooooo. School children were taught certain simple rules of investing in the US and were given a fictitious sum to invest for a year and they beat the “Wall Street pros” by a mile. How?? Why?? Because they obeyed the laws/ rules given to them for the game. They had no EGO. They are not the doers but considered themselves as just tools to accomplish the task. And above all they were closer to the ground and knew the latest trends in what is hot and what is catching up and what has potential and their minds were “OPEN” to changing scenarios.

You don’t see a farmer getting all too excited about his harvest jumping up & down, chatting away with minutest details. Look at his composure when he plucks his fruits of labour…devotedly, graciously with a heart full of gratitude. As long as “gambling attitude” is there to trading, you are doomed unless you are one of the pros who knows when to fold his hand and when to play.

For the ones who will take time to master the skills of some methods in TA or EW, the positional calls which need to be read only at the end of the day or Pre market will help. I will take some extra efforts to post some time tested strategies to be followed. But it has to be verified by you. Don’t follow any thing mechanically..Question them and if that is asking too much, then atleast use highest discrimination in choosing the one to follow. In the end, it will all come down to “YOU & ONLY YOU”.

Temper your expectations from the market, fine tune your position sizes…there are more than 250 trading/ investing days…so there is no hurry to get to the Himalayan top in haste..after reaching there what then..So take your time and enjoy the trip and make it an enriching one for you and your close ones. Be the responsible person that you are.

I have been following your analysis since past many months.. I have realised that the weekend posts in which you deal about the emotional and psychological part of trading are really very important.. Please keep up the good work..